Ending by Carol Palacio

The mist was somehow very cold now, even though that perfect October day had been filled with sunshine when they began. Her scream came when she saw the faces beneath the water. They were not her parents, nor her brother. The were strange and unfamiliar, with eyes focused on hers, staring at her with desperation. Then the forms began to hover within the mist. "Help us," were the words she could hear them say. She searched for a familiar face among them, but saw none. She was frightened, but in her need to understand, was able to utter, "How can I help you"? The forms kept floating toward her, then back and away again. She saw lots of people in and away again. A woman said, "Our homes were taken from us before we could cross over."

What? Of course the homes were demolished, but they were vacant she thought, and no lives had been lost. "Our spirits are lost", came the answer to the question she had not even voiced. "The homes we died in, were gone before we could cross over. We were there waiting. We were waiting, but they left us behind. We have no where to go. Help us. Help us." Fear and dread came over her. "What?" she managed to ask. How can I help you?" "Pray for us," came the answer. We are trapped forever unless you pray for us and show us the way. We have nowhere to go. We have no where to rest".

Without further explanation, she suddenly understood. They were the spirits that were left adrift and had haunted the town dwellings when the water came. Although the coffins in the graveyard had been moved, the spirits that had not rested, had been long forgotten. Perhaps no one recognized they had been there and no one recognized that they had been hovering, waiting and seeking to escape the bonds of earth.

"Tell me how to help", she uttered. The faces came nearer, and she froze in her tracks. "Grab my hand", came the voice of a young man, "For my sweet Betty Jane, my sweet Betty Jane". He placed something in her hand and with his cold icy hand, pressed her fingers tightly around it. "I brought this back from the war for my sweet Betty Jane, but she was gone. She was gone. for my sweetheart, my Betty Jane."

The next thing she knew she was being pulled from the water. Her father and brother had dived into the lake and pulled her out. They were calling her name, "Crystal, Crystal!" Her mother was standing over her with hands covering her mouth. "Where are they?" Crystal asked and kept repeating. Suddenly, she was aware of the sun in her eyes and the heat of the fall sun upon her. She choked and gasp, and pushed herself up against the railing. "Where are they?" - these people she wanted her family to see.. "Who"?, asked her father. "Who are you talking about"? Her brother demanded. "How in the heck did you fall off the boat?"

"They need our help", she told them. "We have to help them". As she looked desperately into the water, she saw the forms and faces disappearing from sight and caught a glimpse of the young man who had pulled her in to those murky waters. His eyes implored her "give it to my sweet Betty Jane " She had been pulled overboard. She suddenly understood that in her sympathy with the souls from Monticello, she had been pulled into the place where they had once resided. But was it the souls who had found her, and rescued her, and pushed her to the surface or had they tried to pull her to her death?

As her knees gave way, she settled back onto the deck, and realized her mother had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. Something hurt her fingers and felt hard within her hand. Shivering, she opened her hand. Glistening in the sunlight was a glass necklace surrounded by what seemed like silver lace with one sparkling diamond placed within the center. "Look," she cried to her family. "This is for Betty Jane. We need to give this to her. She used to live in Monticello."